Winners announced and awards presented at Meeker 4-H Achievement Night

MEEKER | The Meeker 4-H Achievement Night Oct. 26 at the fairgrounds provided good food (lasagna), good company, a Harry Potter themed costume contest and door prizes. More than 220 people attended: 4-H’rs and their parents, 4-H leaders, sponsors and county extension staff. The Rangely 4-H Achievement Night will be held Monday, Nov. 13.
Jamie Turner, a 4-H parent and livestock aficionado and the coordinator of the livestock carcass contest, in her self-described “spiel,” said the contest is going strong. This year 24 goats, 21 hogs, 18 beef and 36 lambs were entered which, she said, “tells me our 4-H kids have confidence in the quality of their product, their livestock. There were twice as many lambs this year as last.”
The CSU Center for Meat Safety and Quality, in the Department of Animal Sciences, again provided the ultrasound testing and analysis. The CSU team also gave the contest participants a presentation during the county fair in August with in-depth information on how ultrasound images are read and what defines a quality animal. The 4-H’rs were able to take live animal images, practice tracing the muscle and making the measurements.
Repeat sponsors of the contest who continue to show their support and confidence in our kids, Turner reported, include 5280 Meat, Rachel and Ty Gates; Mountain Valley Bank, Tawny Halandras; White River Electric Association, Trina Zagar-Brown; 2 Many Irons Livestock, Tera and Clint Shults; Crippled Cowboy Cow Outfit, Fran and Jon Hill; Meeker Beef 4-H Club; Deserai and Dan Lapp; Debbie and Gary Smith; and Jamie and Kai Turner.
In order to participate in the carcass contest, the participants had to have an entry fee of $10 per animal which was all jackpotted back to the first, second and third place winners in each division. The grand and reserve champions also received belt buckles. For swine, goats and lambs, the contest is based on live ultrasound measurements.
The champion, reserve champion and third place finishers in swine were Halle Ahrens, Marryn Shults and Rowdy Rosendahl with respective index dollar values of $63.67, $62.69 and $62.57 per hundredweight. In comparison, the lowest values were under $50.
In goats, Kastyn Dembowski, Alivia McFadden and Allie Willey were champion, reserve champion and third, respectively, having rib eye area per hundred weight scores of 2.62, 2.51, and 2.49 each versus the lowest score at 1.45.
For lambs, champion Nevaeh Leblanc, reserve champion Melayni Wangnild and third Eva Scritchfield had the best carcasses with formula (rib eye area, fat and leg muscle) index values of 0.17, 1.56, and 1.86 respectively compared to high values (least favorable in the case of lambs) of more than three.
For beef, the carcass evaluation is done on the rail. The champion beef carcass was Haylee Edinger’s, reserve champ Charlie Rogers, and third Deana Wood with dollar values per hundredweight of $203.25, $196.25 and $192.75 while the lowest dollar values in the division were under $170.
Shooting sports awards of a certificate and a check were presented by leader Matt Scott. The Make Jon Proud Safety Award, donated by the family in memory of Jon Wangnild, was presented to Kayla Scott and Hayley Rippy; the Rich Ruchti Memorial Award donated by Eleanor Ruchti Carter was presented to Brooke Archuleta; and the Most Improved Award, donated by Chris Uphoff, went to Hailey Knowles.
The Western Heritage Shooting Sports Club recognized two individuals who once again made the Western Heritage Project possible. Bill Jordan and Bernie Roybal allowed the use of their personal firearms again this year, without which the program could not have continued.
In the category of special livestock awards, Macy Collins won both the Edna Winslett-Zingheim Memorial Sheep and the Fred Winslett All-Around Market Beef Champion awards sponsored by Jeanne and Alan Jones. Marryn Shults won the Supreme Swine Award, sponsored by the White River Swine Club, which is based on a formula combination of successes.
The name added to the fairgrounds display case plaque signifying the outstanding livestock senior this year is Macy Collins and the outstanding livestock juniors are Tatumn Kennedy and Marryn Shults. These awards are donated by Bill Ekstrom and Bill Jordan.
For horsemanship, the winner of the Wayne Moody Memorial most dedicated horse member, sponsored by Moody’s family, is Alejandro Garcia. EnCana Oil and Gas sponsor the horse general project outstanding junior, intermediate and senior awards which this year went to Cameron Preciado, Gabriel Richardson and Kasey Rosendahl, respectively.
The County 4-H Foundation Awards are considered the most prestigious of all. Presented by foundation board member Iris Franklin, the Meeker outstanding junior member was awarded to Jessy Pelloni, outstanding intermediate member to Tatumn Kennedy and outstanding senior member to Macy Collins. The outstanding junior leader was Macy Collins and the Nancy Beard Trust rabbit and poultry winner was Hayden Garcia.
Meeker Livestock Judging Team leader Clint Shults presented the senior and junior outstanding all-state livestock judging recognition to Macy Collins and Marryn Shults.
The Rangely 4-H Achievement Night Monday will be at the Colorado Room in the Weiss Building at CNCC beginning at 6:30 p.m. Please call or email Rangely county extension agent Jayda Lewis for more information at 970-878-9499, [email protected].